Zeng honestly could’ve done without ever seeing another Goblin again. He didn’t have anything against goblins personally- he was rather grateful for what the goblins had done when his predecessors, teachers and teachers’ teachers, in Half Moon Bay had first been getting their feet wet in Rune-Making. It was just that if you saw a Goblin in Half Moon Bay, it meant there was trouble, and trouble was something he preferred to avoid whenever possible.
The incident that encapsulated his desire to never see a goblin again had occurred the previous afternoon- a goblin had snuck smoke laced with hallucinogens into the sewers, and the entire town thought their sewer system was on fire. Authentic Arts was, fortunately, far enough away from any sewer grates that the hallucinogens didn’t have much of an effect on his work- but when your work was poking people with needles to give them permanent markings on their skin, any effect was too much.
Zeng was mostly just glad that goblin elders did have some kind of last-resort measure to keep particularly troublesome goblins from leaving again. He had heard from one of the Barkeep’s contacts, that the elders had used said last-resort measures on the goblin Riprack, who had caused all the trouble, as of the previous evening.
Today he was visiting the local clinic for a checkup. The mass hallucinogens had been released the previous afternoon, during working hours, and Zeng had ended up turning what had been a skull design into to a time dilation rune he was very glad he had split unevenly. The consequences of messing up that particular rune on a human body- or even just partially activating- were catastrophic and possibly career-ruining. As it was, he had the morning off to get looked over to make sure there were no side effects and then he’d be free.
The supernatural gathering, held late the previous night, had said they had seen no evidence of the hallucinogens being magical in nature or difficult to purge, but the consensus had been to take a visit anyway.
He took a glance around the unfamiliar clinic. The sterile, clean (and specifically hypoallergenic) scent of a doctor’s office. A few fake plants decorating corners. Reception area, complete with bored receptionist. A stack of magazines ranging from a month to a year out of date- on golf, on sound tech, and then general celebrity gossip rags. Considering the Doctors Johnson’s hobbies, Zeng was willing to assume that these magazines were old ones from their subscriptions.
The dancing dinosaurs, whimsical wisps, and bashful birds he could see out of the corners of his eyes, however, did not fill him with real hope about what his health would be- though they were cheerful.
Zeng sighed, settled down to appreciate his admittedly enjoyable delusions, and waited.
Zeng was tripping balls but could safely work the counter today. Zeng walked back to Authentic Arts, nodded to his boss, and settled in to clean up his tools- he wouldn’t be working today, though at least his boss was going to keep him doing the counter. Detail work was beyond him- rining people up, not so much. Authentic arts smelled of pineapple- a strong air purifier that his boss, Ellen, had put into the store to overwhelm the metallic scent of his tools and odd scent of the ink Zeng and his coworkers used. The store was decorated with various prints and framed paintings or artwork- everything on the walls, every artist was expected to be able to do any of those, and Zeng was one of the two Tattoo Artists who were allowed to take commissions.
Zeng traced a hand over his tattoo gun, gently fingering the durability rune he had engraved upon its body. Rune-Makers had come up with a wide variety of interesting modifications to the tools of their trades.
Zeng had two arrays on his tattoo gun- the first, on the handle, made it impossible for his sweaty hands to lose their grip or slip. The second, on the body, was a hybrid array- a collection of sanitation runes and durability runes that ensured he didn’t need to cleanse his tattoo gun as often, prevented it from rusting due to the humidity in Half Moon Bay, and protected it from incidental damage. There was a third he had carefully wrapped around the area just behind the needle, which was more a single rune repeated over and over than an actual array, but if it worked the way he hoped it did he’d be able to prevent his gun from ever blocking his vision as long as he wore the pair of glasses he had paired to the array.
With a sigh, Zeng packed up his tools and sat himself at the front desk, exchanging a glance and tired smile with Eun Ah, his coworker. She was about four inches shorter than Zeng, with brunette hair kept in a delicate bun upon the back of her head. Her brown eyes sparkled with warmth and she had an enthusiasm and passion for their shared art that Zeng almost envied sometimes. Zeng was reminded of his ongoing project to learn Korean.
Zeng heard the ringing of a bell, and looked up to see a kid walking in. Wrapped around his neck, Zeng identified the lucky pendant that locals tended to give to each other in celebration of major life events. Zeng had moved here around ten years prior, a lost kid fresh out of art school who had heard rumors of… interesting effects in the tattoos nearby. His teacher had asked if he wanted a pendant, when he finished his apprenticeship, but Zeng didn’t quite see the point.
Kid looked like he was about ready to finish high school- the most likely reason for the pendant, all told. Probably wanted a tattoo to commemorate the occasion. Two older adults, likely around five years older than Zeng, came in behind the kid, and he recognized the mother, Elizabeth, from the meeting The Barkeep and other authorities within the community had called in the aftermath of the havoc Riprack had caused.
The kid looked around the store. He was lean with a swimmer’s build. Close-cut black hair rested upon the kid’s head, and his brown eyes were wide as he took in the appearance of the store. The kid’s father looked like an older version of him, a couple inches taller with lines denoting his age on his face. The kid’s mother was shorter, with warm green eyes and nearly-black hair.
“Zeng Zhihao, yes?”
“Of course, Ma’am. Are you looking for one of our designs or a comission?”
“We’re looking for something special.” The woman’s husband stated.
Zeng nodded, exchanged a quick glance with Eun Ah, who gave him a light frown and shook her head.
“I’m sorry, the incident from yesterday has both myself and our other artist who can take commissions in no condition to reliably work. Would you like to
schedule an appointment?”
The incident that encapsulated his desire to never see a goblin again had occurred the previous afternoon- a goblin had snuck smoke laced with hallucinogens into the sewers, and the entire town thought their sewer system was on fire. Authentic Arts was, fortunately, far enough away from any sewer grates that the hallucinogens didn’t have much of an effect on his work- but when your work was poking people with needles to give them permanent markings on their skin, any effect was too much.
Zeng was mostly just glad that goblin elders did have some kind of last-resort measure to keep particularly troublesome goblins from leaving again. He had heard from one of the Barkeep’s contacts, that the elders had used said last-resort measures on the goblin Riprack, who had caused all the trouble, as of the previous evening.
Today he was visiting the local clinic for a checkup. The mass hallucinogens had been released the previous afternoon, during working hours, and Zeng had ended up turning what had been a skull design into to a time dilation rune he was very glad he had split unevenly. The consequences of messing up that particular rune on a human body- or even just partially activating- were catastrophic and possibly career-ruining. As it was, he had the morning off to get looked over to make sure there were no side effects and then he’d be free.
The supernatural gathering, held late the previous night, had said they had seen no evidence of the hallucinogens being magical in nature or difficult to purge, but the consensus had been to take a visit anyway.
He took a glance around the unfamiliar clinic. The sterile, clean (and specifically hypoallergenic) scent of a doctor’s office. A few fake plants decorating corners. Reception area, complete with bored receptionist. A stack of magazines ranging from a month to a year out of date- on golf, on sound tech, and then general celebrity gossip rags. Considering the Doctors Johnson’s hobbies, Zeng was willing to assume that these magazines were old ones from their subscriptions.
The dancing dinosaurs, whimsical wisps, and bashful birds he could see out of the corners of his eyes, however, did not fill him with real hope about what his health would be- though they were cheerful.
Zeng sighed, settled down to appreciate his admittedly enjoyable delusions, and waited.
Zeng was tripping balls but could safely work the counter today. Zeng walked back to Authentic Arts, nodded to his boss, and settled in to clean up his tools- he wouldn’t be working today, though at least his boss was going to keep him doing the counter. Detail work was beyond him- rining people up, not so much. Authentic arts smelled of pineapple- a strong air purifier that his boss, Ellen, had put into the store to overwhelm the metallic scent of his tools and odd scent of the ink Zeng and his coworkers used. The store was decorated with various prints and framed paintings or artwork- everything on the walls, every artist was expected to be able to do any of those, and Zeng was one of the two Tattoo Artists who were allowed to take commissions.
Zeng traced a hand over his tattoo gun, gently fingering the durability rune he had engraved upon its body. Rune-Makers had come up with a wide variety of interesting modifications to the tools of their trades.
Zeng had two arrays on his tattoo gun- the first, on the handle, made it impossible for his sweaty hands to lose their grip or slip. The second, on the body, was a hybrid array- a collection of sanitation runes and durability runes that ensured he didn’t need to cleanse his tattoo gun as often, prevented it from rusting due to the humidity in Half Moon Bay, and protected it from incidental damage. There was a third he had carefully wrapped around the area just behind the needle, which was more a single rune repeated over and over than an actual array, but if it worked the way he hoped it did he’d be able to prevent his gun from ever blocking his vision as long as he wore the pair of glasses he had paired to the array.
With a sigh, Zeng packed up his tools and sat himself at the front desk, exchanging a glance and tired smile with Eun Ah, his coworker. She was about four inches shorter than Zeng, with brunette hair kept in a delicate bun upon the back of her head. Her brown eyes sparkled with warmth and she had an enthusiasm and passion for their shared art that Zeng almost envied sometimes. Zeng was reminded of his ongoing project to learn Korean.
Zeng heard the ringing of a bell, and looked up to see a kid walking in. Wrapped around his neck, Zeng identified the lucky pendant that locals tended to give to each other in celebration of major life events. Zeng had moved here around ten years prior, a lost kid fresh out of art school who had heard rumors of… interesting effects in the tattoos nearby. His teacher had asked if he wanted a pendant, when he finished his apprenticeship, but Zeng didn’t quite see the point.
Kid looked like he was about ready to finish high school- the most likely reason for the pendant, all told. Probably wanted a tattoo to commemorate the occasion. Two older adults, likely around five years older than Zeng, came in behind the kid, and he recognized the mother, Elizabeth, from the meeting The Barkeep and other authorities within the community had called in the aftermath of the havoc Riprack had caused.
The kid looked around the store. He was lean with a swimmer’s build. Close-cut black hair rested upon the kid’s head, and his brown eyes were wide as he took in the appearance of the store. The kid’s father looked like an older version of him, a couple inches taller with lines denoting his age on his face. The kid’s mother was shorter, with warm green eyes and nearly-black hair.
“Zeng Zhihao, yes?”
“Of course, Ma’am. Are you looking for one of our designs or a comission?”
“We’re looking for something special.” The woman’s husband stated.
Zeng nodded, exchanged a quick glance with Eun Ah, who gave him a light frown and shook her head.
“I’m sorry, the incident from yesterday has both myself and our other artist who can take commissions in no condition to reliably work. Would you like to
schedule an appointment?”
Elizabeth smiled at him, and nodded.